Vampire Academy
by Chantie15
Summary: Don't you ever wonder what made Dimitri first start to fall in love with Rose? Here's the answers to all your questions. Read. Review. Favourite. I guarentee you'll find what your looking for!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The cool night breeze was like a cool caress against my skin. The wind was picking up. The tree's Branch's were swaying, the leaves were rustling wildly and my duster was flapping furiously out behind me. My footsteps were heavy against the pavement as I quickly made my way over to Guardian Chase who had stopped suddenly in front of a small house; which put me on high alert. As I approached him, he raised his arm, and shakily pointed towards the window on the top floor. "What's the matt-" I stopped suddenly and saw what- who- he was looking at. My eyes widened slightly and my back stiffened. Through the window was Princess Vasilisa Dragomir, a royal vampire, whom myself and around a dozen other guardians had been ordered, to find, and take back to the safety of the academy. Even though we had been on the search for her and her Dhampir friend for almost two years now- She was that important- I could not believe we'd found them in this situation. Vasilisa was drinking blood from a girl who I presumed was Rosemarie Hathaway her Dhampir best friend.

It wasn't natural, moroi weren't supposed to drink from dhampir's, only humans, it was considered dirty and shameful. Moroi men drank a women dhampir's blood during sex and that was frowned upon. The dhampir's were called "Blood whore's" if they participated in such a shameful act. So to see the princess sucking the blood of her dhampir best friend was horrifying even a bit sickening but within a minute it was over. I watched as the princess pulled back and wiped her lips with the back of her hand and stood up. The dhampir smiled at her dreamily and the princess gave her a concerned look before saying a few words, then walking out of the room.

"Go notify the others" I instructed Guardian Chase who was still standing beside me with wide eyes and his lips parted as if he were silently screaming. He turned, nodded then took off at a sprint to find the other guardians who were searching for the princess a few blocks away. I turned my attention back to the window and immediately took a sharp intake of breath. The dhampir girl stood at the window staring straight at me with her lips parted in amazement. I didn't dare move an inch just in case she thought I was a shadow but I knew she saw me just as well as I could see her, even though it was pitch black, dhampir's could basically see in the dark without much trouble but it wasn't like the brightness of day. So, I would be clearly visible from where she was standing. I waited for her to react somehow mainly expecting her to scream or run to notify the princess. She did after a long moments pause. She rushed around the room hurriedly picking up bits and pieces of clothing and Jewellery before she stumbled out of the room and presumedly ran to notify the princess and plan an escape.

I didn't hesitate, rushing over to the front door and opening it just a crack I listened silently for the conversation that was about to take place. Heavy footsteps echoed down the hall and I heard the princess speak, "You shouldn't be up" she chastised. "We have to go. Now" she replied evenly. There was a short moments silence "Are you… really? Are you sure?" the princess asked, her tone slightly frantic. A male voice spoke "What's wrong?" ignoring his question the dhampir told Vasilisa to get the boys car keys. The boy asked once more what the girls were doing before he went completely silent. "We need to borrow your car" the princess spoke calmly. "Where are your keys?" she asked gently. There was a clinching sound, which I presumed was the boy handing over his keys. "Thank you" Vasilisa said sweetly. "And where is it parked?" "Down the street. At the corner. By brown" the boy replied almost robotically.

I didn't waste time, quietly shutting the front door I started jogging away from the house in the direction of the boy's car. Pulling out my cell from my pocket I dialled Guardian Chase's number- he answered on the second ring. "How far away are you and the others? The girls are leaving the house- they saw me." Heavy breathing came through the other end of the line. "Not far, roughly two minutes" Guardian Chase puffed, he was obviously running whilst talking. "I'm going to cut them off at the intended escape vehicle, you and the others stay close behind- just in case they intend to double back once they spot me." I explained. "Got it. Cya soon" he replied before hanging up the phone. I slid the cell into my pocket and ran as fast as I could to the vehicle the boy had described to the girls. Quickly I decided to hide behind some bushes out the front of another house only a couple of metres from the car. A minute later I heard the heavy footsteps and panting of Vasilisa and her Dhampir friend coming up the road towards the car. The other guardians weren't far behind them I began to hear their footsteps closing in- the girls were trapped.

The girls paused and exchanged frantic glances before stumbling forward again. When they were about ten feet from the car I removed myself from behind the bushes and positioned myself directly in their path. Wide eyed both girls came to a screeching halt and the dhampir immediately jerked the princess behind her- cutting my line of access to her. The natural thing for a dhampir or guardian to do when confronted with a threat. I examined the female dhampir for a short moment. She was the princess's height exactly. She had brown curly hair, which, at the moment, was in a messy tangle that reached down to her chest. She had chocolate brown eyes that were staring at mine fiercely. Her teeth were bared and she was crouched protectively in front of the princess who was cowering behind her. The other guardian's footsteps slowed as they finally caught up with us but they didn't make a move. The female dhampir's expression faltered as she realised she was surrounded by guardians. She pressed right up against Vasilisa and presumably assessed their chance of escaping. "Leave her alone" she growled. "Don't touch her." I held up my hands trying to assure her everything was going to be okay and took a step closer.

Probably realising their was no chance of escape, unless she fought her way out, she leaped at me in an attacking manoeuvre. I tensed up and met her clumsy attack on the defence. She was poorly trained and I could tell by her lack in strength and choice of moves. A mistake that would have gotten her and the princess killed if they'd run into any strigoi. My arm slammed into her chest and sent her flying backwards. Gasping and not quite managing to catch her footing she started to fall, head first, towards the ground. As fast as I had reacted to her attack I reached out and caught her arm, keeping her upright and preventing the sure impact of the nasty fall. She steadied herself and her hair parted slightly to reveal her bite mark; which was still oozing out a small amount of her blood. I grimaced as I watched her reach up to touch it and then pulling her hand back, she frowned, as she saw the blood on her hand. Embarrassed she shook her head, making her hair cover up the bite mark. I stared directly into her eyes making my facial expression unreadable hoping to hide my unease and slight disgust at seeing the mark. She then quickly backed up towards Vasilisa and braced herself for an attack. The princess reached out and caught a hold of her hand. "Rose" she said quietly "Don't" they stood there both staring at one another intently. A silent message seemed to pass between them and the dhampir's frown grew more prominent with each second that past. She then sagged in defeat, a wise choice I thought. Stepping forward and turning my attention to the princess I bowed out of respect. She stood behind the dhampir still but looked at me warily over her shoulder. "My name is Dimitri Belikov," I said. "I've come to take you back to 's Academy, Princess."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Once the princess and her poorly trained dhampir had surrendered we travelled with them by car to the academy's private jet. I allowed the girls to sit next to each other but as soon as I had sat down, at the front of the plane, they immediately started whispering to each other, probably trying to come up with an escape plan. I immediately decided they needed to be separated "Don't let them talk to each other" I warned Guardian Case "Five minutes together, and they'll come up with an escape plan." The female dhampir- Rose her name was if I recalled right, certainly didn't like that idea, I could tell by the look she gave me as I ushered the princess into a seat next to mine. Vasilisa seemed intimidated by me and a bit on edge about being away from the "Safety" and "familiarity" her best friend offered, so we sat in silence.

Once we were in the air everyone relaxed a little, the princess was safe from any strigoi attacks whilst flying, so the other guardians and I didn't have to be on such high alert. I looked over at the princess who had both of her arms resting on the armrests with her fingers strained and her nails digging into the seat. "Everything's going to be okay, princess. Your safe now." I reassured her. She looked up at me with concern "I know. I'm just worried about Rose." Her brow furrowed and her lips creased in worry. Why would the princess be so concerned for her dhampir friend? There would be severe consequences for her no doubt maybe even expulsion but she could easily make other friends, ones of her kind, which would be better influences for her. Moroi and dhampir relationships were usually tight in high school but once the moroi were out in the real world things changed. They had certain responsibilities, especially royal moroi. Who would have to act accordingly and secure a good reputation; which meant they couldn't hang out with dhampir's.

The princess surely wouldn't want to continue the friendship and spend her time with an irresponsible, untrained novice. She had to be mature and make hard decisions and pursue a rewarding future. The dhampir would only hold her back from her true potential. I sighed. I hope Rose doesn't take it to hard when the time comes for her to leave the princess alone and follow a different path, possibly protecting another royal moroi if she trained hard enough. Her chances of protecting the princess were slim to none, since she wasn't capable of making mature decisions and she had a lot to prove to be even considered a possible guardian after she leaves school. I had to ask myself one thing though. Why did I care what happened to Rose? I didn't even know her. Why should I worry about her future? Sure she's made some stupid decisions and risked the princess's life for two years lacking both the skills and strength to actually make a strigoi kill. If she couldn't manage to take me down she had know hope with a strigoi because they were ten times as hard to take down, I should know, I've killed six of them.

Pushing all thoughts of Rose out of my head, I bent over in my seat to pick up an old western novel, that I had yet to read, from of my small carry on bag. I flickered to the first page, took one last glance at the princess to make sure she was all right then indulged myself in my book.

Near the end of the flight I traded places with Guardian Chase who was sitting next to Rose. She scowled as I sat beside her. Glaring, she looked away from me, to focus on nothing in particular out the window. Several heavy moments passed. She was trying to make a point of ignoring me, which was fine, until curiosity got the better of me. "Were you really going to attack all of us?" I asked. She didn't answer but her eyes flickered over to stare at me for a short moment. I continued "Doing that… protecting her like that- it was very brave." A hint of a smile played on her lips. "_**Stupid**_, but still brave. Why did you even try it?" The hint of a smile vanished. Flicking her hair over her shoulder so she could look at me levelly in the eye, she spoke with utter seriousness "Because I'm her guardian." Then she turned her gaze back out the window nd continued ignoring me. After another quite moment I decided things weren't going to progress, so, I stood up and returned to the front of the jet and continued to read my book for the rest of the flight.

When we landed, we all got into groups of five and got in separate cars and drove back to the academy. The guardians and I stopped at the gates, notified the guards of our return with the princess and the female novice then continued up the long driveway to the academy's entrance. We then parked the cars, got out and unloaded the small amount of luggage we had taken on the rescue mission. I walked near the front of the group, as we walked into the main part of the upper school I heard heavy footsteps and the crunching of gravel as someone advanced towards me. "Hey, comrade." I stiffened but kept walking not looking at her, the untrained dhampir. "You want to talk now?" I said a little sarcastically. She ignored my comment and asked "Are you taking us to Kirova?" I shook my head in exasperation could she be anymore impolite? Didn't she have any respect for her old teachers and instructors? "_**Headmistress**_ Kirova," I corrected her. "Headmistress. Whatever. She's still a self-righteous old bit-" she stopped suddenly as we went through a set of doors leading us into the commons. She sighed. It was breakfast time for the students. Everyone was sitting down eating and socialising. As soon as we entered the whole room went silent and everyone's attention focused on the girls.

Sensing she was in the spotlight Rose squared her shoulders and stood up straight not meeting their shocked gazes. She scanned the room with her confident expression but her eyes darted around the room assessing the different groups of students. She relaxed a little as we went through another set of doors, exiting the commons to enter headmistress Kirova's office. The girls both sat down on chairs in front of the headmistress's desk and most of the guardians left the room except for me and two other's. We took positions along the wall and I eyed Rose warily. The headmistress's angry eyes rested on the girls and she opened her mouth to speak but a gentle voice stopped her. Prince Victor Dashkov. "Vasilisa" He gave her a small smile. I hadn't been aware of his presence in the room and it startled me that he'd gotten much worse since the last time I saw him which was a day after we had been notified of the princess's whereabouts. With what seemed like great difficulty the prince rose from his chair and the princess sprang up from her seat and ran over to him, throwing her arms around his frail body. "Uncle" she whispered. Her face was filled with concern and she was visibly fighting back tears.

Victor gave her a small smile and patted her on the back. "You have know idea how glad I am to see you safe, Vasilisa." He looked over at Rose and said "And you to Rose." Rose nodded, her face filled with shock and sympathy, the change in Prince Victor obviously surprised her. Kirova let them have a few more moments reunion and then stiffly drew Vasilisa back to her seat. The headmistress then gave the girls a ten-minute lecture on responsibility, reckless behaviour, self-centredness and a couple other things. Rose seemed to tune out early on in the lecture. Then the headmistress turned her icy glare to Rose "You, Miss Hathaway, broke the most sacred promise among our kind: the promise of a guardian to protect a moroi. It is a great trust. A trust that you violated by selfishly taking the princess away from here. The strigoi would love to finish off the Dragomir's; you nearly enabled them to do it." "Rose didn't kidnap me." Vasilisa pointed out wistfully. "I wanted to go. Don't blame her." She added quietly. Ms Kirova tsked at both of them and paced theoffice, hands folded behind her narrow back.

"Miss Dragomir, you could have been the one who orchestrated the whole plan for all I know, but it was still her responsibility to make sure you didn't carry it out. If she'd done her duty, she would have notified someone. If she'd done her duty, she would have kept you safe." That was when Rose snapped. "I did do my duty!" she shouted furiously, jumping out of her chair, which made Alberta and I flinch. I didn't advance because it didn't seem like she would try and throw a punch, it was just her lack of self-control coming out. "I did keep her safe when none of you" she made a sweeping gesture around the room- "could do it. I took her away to protect her. I did what I had to do. You certainly weren't going to."

Vasilisa stared at Rose looking like she was mentally telling Rose to calm down and sit back in her seat before she caused more trouble. Rose looked at Vasilisa for a short moment then turned back to the headmistress glaring at her. The headmistress kept her face blank "Miss Hathaway, forgive me if I fail to see the logic of how taking her out of a heavily guarded, magically secured environment is protecting her. Unless there's something you aren't telling us?" Rose bit her lip and I hid my smile, Kirova was right. Rose made a wrong decision about the princess's safety and wellbeing and did the opposite of protecting her. She put the princess in immortal danger, every moment of every day they were at risk of a strigoi attack and Rose had risked it all by wrongly assessing her friend's situation. "I see. Well, then. By my estimation, the only reason you left- aside from the novelty of it, no doubt was to avoid the consequences of that horrible, destructive stunt you pulled just before your disappearance." Kirova accused. "No, that's not-" "And that only makes my decision that much easier, as a moroi, the princess must continue here at the Academy for her own safety, but we have no obligation to you. You will be sent away as soon as possible." Both of the girls gasped in shock and Rose stiffened "I… what?" Vasilisa hastily stood up "You can't do that! She's my guardian." She cried. "She is no such thing, particularly since she isn't even a guardian at all. She's still a novice." The headmistress retorted. "But my parents-" "I know what your parents wanted, god rest their souls but things have changed. Miss Hathaway is expendable. She doesn't deserve to be a guardian, and she will leave."

Rose stared at the headmistress in disbelief. I knew there was a chance Rose could possibly be expelled but honestly I thought she had potential after all she _**had **_kept Vasilisa safe out in the real world even if it was pure luck they hadn't run into any strigoi. "Where are you going to send me? To my mom in Nepal? Did she even know I was gone? Or maybe you'll send me off to my _**father**_?" Ms. Kirova's eyes narrowed at the bite in her last word. When Rose spoke again her voice was cold and venomous "Or maybe you're going to send me off to be a blood whore. Try that, and we'll be gone by the end of the day." "Miss Hathaway!" the headmistress hissed. "You are out of line." The conversation was getting dangerous and pretty soon Rose was going to get violent. I didn't know how I knew but I sensed it. I tried to think of something that would save them. Shifting from thought to thought I tried to think of anything that might help and that's when it hit me! "They have a bond." I blurted out and everyone looked at me in confusion except for Rose and Vasilisa.

I looked directly at Rose. She had my whole undivided attention just like I knew it would always be from this moment on. "Rose knows what Vasilisa is feeling. Don't you?" Rose stared at me with her lips parted in amazement that I'd guessed their secret. The headmistress was caught off guard for a moment and she glanced over at me, then to the girls, and back again unsure of what to become of this news. "No… that's impossible. That hasn't happened in centuries." "It's obvious. I suspected it as soon as I started watching them." I lied. I wasn't going to admit I'd just figured it out and how Rose always was so aware of Vasilisa and silent messages seemed to pace between them and no words were needed just Vasilisa's _**thoughts**_. Neither Rose nor Vasilisa responded to my statement but Rose gave it away by looking away from me to look at Kirova.

"That is a gift." Murmured Prince Victor from his corner. "A rare and wonderful thing." "The best guardians always had that bond." I added. "In the stories" Kirova's earlier outrage returned "Stories that are centuries old," she exclaimed. "Surely you aren't suggesting we let her stay at the Academy after everything she's done?" I shrugged. "She might be wild and disrespectful, but if she has potential-" "Wild and disrespectful?" Rose interrupted me. "Who the hell are you anyway? Outsourced help." I rolled my eyes at her comment and immediately dismissed it. "Guardian Belikov is the princess's guardian now," said Kirova. "Her _**sanctioned **_guardian." "You got cheap foreign labour to protect Lissa?" Rose spat. I pressed my lips together tightly and clenched my teeth, my fists in tight balls, I refrained from answering her back with a snide comment. **I. Was. Furious. **Couldn't Rose see I was only trying to help her? How dare she make such an insulting comment about me and what country I had come from. She had know idea how much I'd been through and how close I had come to declining the headmistresses offer to be the princess's guardian. I was doing Rose a favour by sticking up for her and this is how she treats me. Outrageous. I should've kept my mouth shut and just let her be sent away, then everyone could move on without having to put up with her rude behaviour and lack of respect.

Kirova through her hands up in exasperation and turned to me. "You see? Completely undisciplined! All the psychic bonds and _**very **_raw potential in the world can't make up for that. A guardian without discipline is worse than no guardian." "So teach her discipline. Classes just started. Put her back in and get her training again." "Impossible. She'll still be hopelessly behind her peers." "No, I won't" Rose piped in. We both ignored her comment. "Then give her extra training sessions." We continued arguing and everyone watched us with growing interest. "Who's going to put in the extra time?" She demanded. "You?" I came to an abrupt stop. "Well, that's not what I-" Kirova crossed her arms in satisfaction. "Yes. That's what I thought." I frowned not knowing what to say. I looked over at Vasilisa and Rose both their faces were full of hope and they looked at me with pleading eyes. A minute passed. Vasilisa looked at me desperately and Rose looked sad. Her facial expression looked tortured as if she thought I'd say no since all she'd done was treat me with no respect whatsoever and speak to me rudely. I don't know why but the look on Rose's face made me feel slightly saddened and I knew I never wanted her to look that way again.

She needed to learn discipline, manners and most of all respect for others. It would be quite hard in her case but I had absolute faith in her ability to learn self-control. I just hoped she would be willing to learn. Finally I said, "Yes. I can mentor Rose. I'll give her extra sessions along with her normal ones." Kirova frowned not expecting yes for an answer. "And then what?" Kirova retorted angrily. "She goes unpunished?" "Find some other way to punish her," I answered blearily. "Guardian numbers have gone down to much to risk losing another. A girl, in particular." I was referring to all the female dhampir's that chose to become blood whores rather then fight to protect moroi they'd chosen to have sex with them instead. I grimaced thinking back to when I was a boy, living back in Russia with my family. The community I lived in was a hot spot for blood whores who liked to hang out in clubs and bars waiting eagerly for the moroi men to arrive, then later on going home and sleeping with them. It was disgusting but not all blood whores were like that, some had no choice, like my mother.

Victor suddenly spoke up "I'm inclined to agree with Guardian Belikov. Sending Rose away would be a shame, a waste of talent." Ms. Kirova stared out the window. When she turned back around, Lissa met her eyes. "Please Ms. Kirova. Let Rose stay." I watched Vasilisa wearily her tone of voice was identical to when she was back in the house with Rose the night we'd come to take them back to the Academy when she'd got the boys car keys by compelling him I realised. She was doing it now, to the headmistress. Awareness seeped into me and I looked over at Rose who was staring at the princess with wide eyes obviously knowing what she was doing through Vasilisa's thoughts. I glanced over at Kirova and saw her face was slightly slack under Vasilisa's heavy gaze. Moroi compelling students, teachers, human and/or dhampir's was highly against the rules and both Vasilisa and Rose knew it. I decided not to notify the others of the girls antics only because I didn't want to give them another reason to send Rose away well that and I was curious to see if it actually worked against the headmistress, a moroi had to be quite powerful to make it work on a dhampir or moroi especially an _**older one**_.

Kirova sighed, "If Miss Hathaway stays, here's how it will be." She turned to stare at Rose. "Your continued enrolment at St. Vladimir's is strictly probationary. Step out of line _**once, **_and you're _**gone**_. You will train with Guardian Belikov in every spare moment you have- before and after classes. Other than that, you are banned from all social activities, except meals, and will stay in your dorm. Fail to comply with any of this, and you will be sent… away." Rose gave a harsh laugh. "Banned from all social activities? Are you trying to keep us apart?" she nodded towards Vasilisa. "Afraid we'll run away again?" "I'm taking precautions. As I'm sure you recall, you were never properly punished for destroying school property. You have a lot to make up for." Her thin lips tightened into a straight line. "You are being offered a very generous deal. I suggest you don't let your attitude endanger it" Kirova finished. Rose looked like she was going to protest and I willed her to look at me.

I stared at her intently, sensing my gaze, she turned to look at me, eyes blazing. I tried to send a message to her saying _Please don't make Kirova change her mind about you staying at the Academy, just take what she's given you and you'll get through it. It will all be worth it in the end. _She assessed my expression for a long time and finally turned away to look at Kirova, her decision now made. She stared at the floor, Vasilisa sat beside her, pleading her to accept Kirova's offer no doubt. At long last she exhaled and looked up at Kirova "Fine. I accept." She said.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

After Rose had decided to accept Kirova's offer to Re-join the Academy and continue her training-on strict terms and conditions- our group split up. Guardian Chase took Princess Vasilisa away to choose her subjects. Alberta and I were told to escort Rose to the Careers counsellor-Which we did. It only took five minutes before Rose had her timetable sorted out and we headed off to her first class, which was "Advanced guardian combat techniques." On our way to the gym I snuck a peak at Rose, who was walking sluggishly behind Alberta and me, studying her timetable like it was a weird science experiment. She had a small frown on her face the whole time and then angrily she shoved the piece of paper into her pocket. I looked away quickly before she caught me staring at her, but I turned my head slightly so I could still see her out of the corner of my eye. She was staring intently at Alberta's head, completely focused on something. Her brows furrowed, she reached up to catch a lock of her hair and twisted it around her finger absentmindedly. She bit her lip and frowned. I took a quick look at the back of Alberta's head and didn't notice anything wrong with it, what on earth was she thinking then? The only thing I noticed about Alberta's hair was she had her hair cut short, which allowed her Molnija marks to show, they symbolised how many strigoi you had killed. Her promise mark was also tattooed their, meaning she would always stay faithful to the moroi and protect them, rather then turn into an evil immortal taking moroi as their victims every night. A lot of female guardians did this and Rose would most likely do it to, when the time comes for her to graduate and be out killing strigoi in the real world.

When we arrived at the gym, the class was amuck. Students talked animatedly in small groups, some standing some sitting. Not many students were doing the set task, which was setting up the equipment ready for training. The instructor had left the room, which wasn't a wise decision on his part. The room went eerily silent as Rose entered the gym, all eyes turned to stare at her. I could feel the tension building in the room as everyone wondered what she would do first. Rose stood there and scanned the staring open-mouthed novices, obviously looking for a familiar face. Most of the students in the class were male, that wouldn't help Rose's concentration one bit, I sighed. Her eyes rested on Mason Ashford, a male novice who could be a bit of a flirt, his jet red hair stuck up everywhere and a mat of freckles covered his pale face. A smile spread across Rose's face and I wondered if she thought he was attractive.

"Hey Mason, wipe the drool of your face. If you're going to think about me naked, do it in your own time." Rose taunted. I could barely contain my disgust. All of the novices thought it was hilarious of course. A few snorts and snickers broke the awed silence. Mason gave Rose a lopsided grin.

"This _**is**_ my time, Hathaway. I'm leading today's session." Mason said cockily.

"Oh yeah?" Rose retorted. "Huh. Well, I guess this is a good time to think about me naked, then." I rolled my eyes at Rose's comment. _How will she ever learn how to fight properly if she doesn't even have self-respect?_ "Rose's back" Alberta muttered under her breath and a small smile made it's way onto her face.

"It's _**always **_a good time to think about you naked," added someone nearby. Eddie Castile I think his name was.

No wonder Rose acted the way she did. She was surrounded by boys with balls for brains. Not one of the novice's in the room were ready to take on a strigoi out in the real world, they were still way to immature it seemed. I shook my head exasperated, muttering, "Stupid Testosterone filled boys" under my breath in Russian as I walked off to stand guard on the other side of the room. Alberta smiled, she knew a few words in Russian and she would be able to understand what I'd said. Alberta went to stand guard at the gym's entrance and we watched in silence as the class surrounded Rose in one big group and told her about what she'd missed out on during the two years she and the princess were absent. Then they started asking her questions about where had she and Vasilisa gone, how did they escape, did they run into any strigoi? They told her she and Vasilisa had become legends whilst away. Rose laughed at this but didn't tell them where they had run off to or why, which was slightly annoying for me since I to wanted to now _**exactly**_ why they'd run away. Instead she retorted with lots of taunts like "Wouldn't you like to know." Early on in this façade of gossip hungry teens the guardian watching over the lesson had snuck back into the gym unnoticed by everyone but Alberta and I. So the happy reunion only lasted for a couple more minutes before he came over to the group and scolded Mason for neglecting his duties, about time I thought.

Still grinning Mason barked out orders to everyone, explaining what exercises to start with. I watched Rose carefully, not really all that surprised she didn't know most of them. She stood their awkwardly watching the others exercise until Mason came over. "Come on, Hathaway" he said, taking her arm. "You can be my partner. Let's see what you've been doing to all this time." An hour later, he had his answer.

"Not practising huh?"

"Owe" Rose groaned. Mason extended his hand and helped her up from the mat he'd knocked her down on- about fifty times.

"I hate you" she told him, rubbing a spot on her thigh.

"You'd hate me more if I held back," he pointed out.

"Yeah that's true." She agreed, staggering along as the class put the equipment back.

"You actually did okay."

"What? I just had my ass handed to me."

"Well, of course you did. It's been two years. But hey, you're still walking, that's something." He grinned mockingly.

"Did I mention I hate you?" He flashed her another smile, which quickly faded to one more serious.

"Don't take this the wrong way… I mean, you really are a scrapper, but there's no way you'll be able to make your trails in the spring-"

"They're making me take extra practise sessions," she explained. "I'll be ready." She added after a moments thought.

Would she? I wondered. Catching up on two years training would be near impossible for even someone truly dedicated to do well at school. Rose has no manners, no self-respect and she is completely undedicated to do well, the only thing on her mind is Vasilisa and boys. How could I mentor someone like that and teach her discipline when we were complete opposites? Rose didn't care what people thought of her, she had a badass reputation and she flaunted it. I was nothing like that. I had earned my reputation long ago, through hard work and dedication, she was lacking in both those areas. Alberta snapped me out of my trance by waving her hand in front of my face in order to gain my attention.

"Belikov? What has got you so out of it? Thinking about Rose I presume, she will be quite a handful for you, I imagine."

"I was actually. Yes, you're right, Rose does look like a bit of a handful. I have a lot of work to do it seems." She laughed and nodded her head in agreement.

"Well, we better be on our way, second period is starting."

We walked together to the class we had been assigned to guard, which was lead by Stan Alto. A guardian/teacher who seemed to hate kids, his lessons always amused me. Today he was teaching "Bodyguard theory and personal protection 3" which was required for all seniors. Alberta and I lined the back wall and I noticed Rose sitting at a desk in the middle of the room, tapping her fingers on her desk impatiently, waiting for Guardian Alto to arrive. When he did, he took one look at Rose and snickered, his eyes wide with mock surprise as he circled the room and came to stand beside Rose's desk.

"What's this? No one told me we had a guest speaker here today. Rose Hathaway. What a privilege! How very _**generous**_ of you to take time from your busy schedule and share you knowledge with us." If looks could kill Stan would be dead, Rose obviously hated Guardian Alto, it was clearly shown with the look she gave him. I was a bit on edge. Stan was game, making fun of Rose, she could easily lash out at him at any given moment and he was in hitting range. With obviously great self-control Rose refrained from coming up with a snappy retort or punching him in the face all she did was glare at him. With no retort or burst of outrage from Rose, Stan's sneer increased. He gestured for her to stand up-she didn't move.

"Well, come on, come on. Don't sit there! Come up to the front so you can help me lecture the class." Rose sunk further bank into her seat.

"You don't really mean-" Stan's taunting smile dried up.

"I mean _**exactly**_ what I say, Hathaway go to the front of then class." A thick silence enveloped the room. Stan was a scary instructor, and most of the class were to awed to laugh at Rose's disgrace quite yet. Refusing to crack under the pressure, Rose stood up, chair scraping heavily against the floor; she sauntered up to the front of the room. She turned to face the class and gave them a bold look, tossing her hair over her shoulder, which earned her a few sympathetic smiles from her friends. That's when she looked over at me. Our eyes connected for a few short moments, keeping my face blank and my emotions well hidden from her hungry eyes, I returned her gaze stone faced. I didn't want her to know I felt slightly sympathetic for her. She would have to learn the consequences of her actions. I couldn't make it any easier for her. I wouldn't show I cared by supporting the idea what she had done was right because it was the opposite of that. Rose looked away shyly before Stan spoke cheerfully.

"So, Hathaway." He strolled back up to the front to stand next to Rose. "Enlighten us about your protective techniques."

"My… techniques?" She stammered.

"Of course. Because presumably you must have had some sort of plan the rest of us couldn't understand when you took an underage royal moroi out of the Academy and exposed her to constant strigoi threats!" This is what I mean about Stan's lessons. In one-way or another they were always amusing or a valuable lesson was taught.

"We never ran into any strigoi" Rose replied stiffly.

"Obviously," Stan said with a snicker. "I already figured that out, seeing as you're still alive." Rose's fists were in tight balls, her jaw was clenched and after a moment she bowed her head in shame. Stan started pacing in front of the class. "So what'd you do? How'd you make sure she stayed safe? Did you avoid going out at night?" he asked.

"Sometimes." She answered.

"_**Sometimes**_" Stan repeated in a high-pitched voice, making Rose's answer sound incredibly stupid. "Well then, I suppose you slept during the day and stayed on guard during the night."

"Err… no." she replied guiltily. The class watched awed as Stan continued to mentally torture Rose, even I started to think it was going a little to far. Rose needed to learn from her mistakes but not this way. Stan was only adding fuel to the fire, the fire being Rose's self-control. Add to much fuel and you'll have an explosion.

"No? But that's one of the first things mentioned in the chapter on solo guarding. Oh wait, you wouldn't know because _**you weren't here**_." Stan mocked her cruelly. Now Stan was starting to piss me off. He didn't want to add fuel to my fire, that's for sure. I'd have him pinned to the floor begging for Rose's forgiveness in _**seconds**_.

"I watched the area whenever we went out," Rose said defensively.

"Oh? Well that's something. Did you use Carnegie's quadrant surveillance method or the rotational survey?" Rose didn't say anything. "Ah. I'm guessing you used the Hathaway **Glance-Around-When-You-Remember-To** method?" I let out a low growl and clenched my fists.

"No!" Rose exclaimed furiously. "That's not true. I watched her. She's still alive, isn't she?" Stan had practically smothered Rose in fuel and now… well she was burning inside, loosing all self-control she was near an explosion and I wasn't about to stop her. Stan slowly walked back up to where Rose was standing and leaned towards her face, so they were only inches apart. I flinched. I wouldn't have been game enough to do that, Rose was furious right now and incredibly dangerous. I braced myself, ready, and waiting to intervene if necessary.

In a dangerously low voice Stan said, "Because you got _**lucky.**_" Rose's eyes narrowed into slits and she was visibly shaking with anger.

"Strigoi aren't lurking around every corner out there," she shot back. "It's not like we've been taught. It's safer then you guys make it sound."

"Safer? _**Safer? **_We are at war with the Strigoi!" Stan yelled. "One of them could walk right up to you and snap your pretty little neck before you even noticed him- and he'd barely break a sweat doing it. You might have more strength then a moroi or human but you are nothing, _**nothing**_, compared to a strigoi. They are deadly, and they are powerful. And do you know what makes them more powerful?" I watched Rose as her bottom lip trembled and her eyes watered, looking down away from Stan, she tried to focus on something else. Her eyes rested on me and I kept my face blank, not letting my true feelings show, Alberta and the other guardian did the same.

"Moroi blood." She whispered.

"What was that?" asked Stan loudly. "I didn't catch it." With inhuman speed Rose span around to face him, hands clenched, teeth bared she hissed.

"Moroi blood! Moroi blood makes them stronger." Stan nodded in satisfaction and took a few steps back, wise of him. My fist slammed into the wall in fury. A couple of people in the back row turned to see what was going on and I returned their curious stares with a nail-biting glare. Alberta looked over at me with a questioning look on her face but I just shook my head and turned back to face the front.

"Yes it does. It makes them stronger and harder to destroy. They'll kill and drink from a human or dhampir, but they want moroi blood more then anything else. They seek it. They've turned to the dark side to gain immortality, and they will do anything to keep that immortality. Desperate strigoi have attacked moroi in public. Groups of strigoi have raided Academies just like this one. There are strigoi who have lived for thousands of years and fed off generations of moroi. They're almost impossible to kill. And that is why moroi numbers are dropping. They aren't strong enough- even with the guardians- to protect themselves. Some moroi don't even see the point in running anymore and are simply turning strigoi by choice. And as the moroi disappear…"

"…So do the dhampir's" Rose finished.

"Well," Stan said, licking the spray off of his lips. "It looks like you learned something after all. Now we'll have to see if you can learn enough to pass this class and qualify for your field experience next semester." With that finishing sentence, Rose was allowed back into her seat. She didn't speak a word to anyone for the rest of the lesson.

Lunchtime sluggishly came around, and I caught sight of Rose walking across campus towards the commons. I soon fell into step beside her, waiting for her to say something first. "I suppose you saw what happened in Stan's class?" she asked, not bothering with Guardian titles.

"Yes." I answered.

"And you don't think that was unfair?" Yes I thought, but I couldn't let her know that. I couldn't tell her the anger and fury I felt when he tortured her. Stan was right though. Rose definitely wasn't ready to make a strigoi kill.

"Was he right? Do you think you were fully ready to protect Vasilisa?" She looked down at the ground.

"I kept her alive." She mumbled. Rose just couldn't see the point I was trying to make, she _**would **_have been killed if they had run into any strigoi. She still thought she had made the right decision about taking the princess away. Well then, it's time for some tough love.

"How did you do fighting against your classmates today?" I asked. The question was mean and almost cruel but Rose needed to realise, what she did was a mistake, and a mistake like that could easily get you killed, her and Vasilisa had been lucky, _**extremely**_ lucky. Rose didn't answer, not that I expected her to.

"If you can't fight _**them**_-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know." She snapped. I slowed my pace to match her pain filled one.

"You're strong and fast by nature. You just have to keep yourself trained. Didn't you play sports while you were gone?" I asked trying to be helpful.

"Sure," she replied shrugging. "Now and then." I sighed.

"Did you join any teams?" I asked.

"To much work. If I'd wanted to practise that much, I'd have stayed here." I gave her an exasperated look.

"You'll never be able to really protect the princess if you don't hone your skills. You'll always be lacking."

"I'll be able to protect her." She said fiercely. _You only think you would_.

"You'll have no guarantees of being assigned to her, you know- for your field experience _**or**_ after you graduate." My voice was low and unapologetic. I had to be tough with Rose otherwise she would never learn.

"No one wants to waste the bond- but no one's going to give her an inadequate guardian either. If you want to be with her, then you have to work for it. You have your lessons. You have me. Use us or don't. You're an ideal choice to guard Vasilisa when you both graduate-if you can prove your worthy. I hope you will." I said meaningfully.

"Lissa, call her Lissa," She corrected me. Was she even listening to a word I said? Did she even care that I was trying to help her? All she cared about was Vasilisa, what about her own future? Vasilisa wouldn't be in it if she didn't train, but Rose didn't seem to understand that, she thought she would just be handed her diploma and a piece of paper saying she's Vasilisa's guardian, the end. She was sadly mistaken, she would have to work extremely hard to earn that privilege and so far it was nowhere near her reach.

This conversation wasn't getting anywhere- Rose wasn't listening. Fed up with Rose's attitude I walked away without a second glance not bothering to say goodbye. Instead I headed to my room, where I could be alone without any disturbances and eat my lunch in peace. But who was I kidding, I was just trying to get away from Rose, her presence was to powerful and it was hard to ignore her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

I woke up on the couch, with a plate on my lap and a half-empty cup of coffee on the small dining table. I sat up groggily, still half asleep, and looked at the time on the clock, which was sitting on my bed side table. Crap. I'd accidentally fallen asleep eating lunch and had slept right through seventh period.

I was supposed to be on duty, and the bell for the end of class was about to ring. Hopefully someone realised I wasn't there and covered for me. I usually never missed duty but I hadn't had an ounce of sleep since the long plane trip last night. It had drained all the energy out of me.

I should get moving, I told myself. Eighth period was about to start and I was on duty in another one of Guardian Alto's classes.

As I was about to stand up, my phone made a beeping sound and vibrated in my pocket. Startled, I took it out and looked at the screen, which showed I had two new inbox messages.

I opened the first one, which was from Alberta. _**Belikov, you weren't on duty seventh period, so I had Guardian Chase cover for you. Don't worry, you can thank me later. Alberta.**_

I ran my hand through my slightly tousled hair and let out a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Alberta had realised I was off duty and had done the right thing by asking Guardian Chase to cover for me. I would have to take one of Guardian Chase's shifts tomorrow as a way of saying thank you.

I clicked on the second message, which was addressed to Alberta and I only. It was from headmistress Kirova. _**You are both off duty last period due to a small staff meeting regarding Miss Hathaway. It shouldn't take long- there are things we need to discuss. Come to my office when the bell goes. Kirova.**_

It looked like I was in luck; I didn't have to go on duty last period either. The bell rang loudly and I quickly scooped up my plate and coffee cup heading over to the sink. I tipped the rest of my coffee down the sink and gave it a quick rinse as well as my plate, leaving them to dry. I grabbed my jacket as I walked out the door, locking it behind me.

I knocked quietly on the headmistress's door. "Come in, Belikov" I head Kirova call from inside. Slowly turning the handle and pushing the door open- I stepped into her office and closed the door. "Please, sit." She said beckoning to the same chair Rose had sat in this morning when getting lectured about her decision to run away with the princess. How ironic, now I felt like the badass, sitting in the same chair she had. Alberta smiled at me as I sat down next to her in front of the headmistress's desk.

"So…" The headmistress began, "I presume you know why, you both, are here. It's regarding Miss Hathaway. I want you two to spy on her." Kirova folded her arms on the desk and let her words sink in.

"What for?" Alberta asked, confused.

"Well as you know, Rose likes to cause trouble and tends not to follow the rules. I believe she will break protocol in a matter of _**days**_. This is why you two will be watching her when she does. Each one of you will take turns spying on her. One of you will be watching Rose and the other will be watching Vasilisa in every one of their classes. Alberta will follow Rose after she finishes training with Belikov to make sure she goes straight to her room and not off to see Vasilisa or one of her dhampir friends. One wrong move and she's out of here. It's time the Moroi princess made some more suitable friends-Rose won't allow her to do that, she will set the wrong impression and I won't allow it." Kirova said smugly.

"You have to give Rose a chance to prove herself. I do believe she's serious about obeying protocol. I watched her in Guardian Alto's class this morning and she behaved herself, so I don't think what you are asking is truly necessary. She will eventually find out she's being watched and that will put her even more on edge." I explained. Alberta nodded her head in agreement.

"Belikov is right. I don't think spying on Rose's every move is necessary. She is beginning to realise the seriousness of her actions and so far she is obeying protocol. She was pretty upset this morning in Guardian Alto's class, when he made her stand up in front of the class, lecturing her about the seriousness and stupidity of her actions." Alberta explained calmly.

Kirova's eyebrows furrowed and the corners of her lips turned down into a frown. "Well then…" She huffed. "I suppose you two know all about Miss Hathaway's every move then? However I have known Rose nearly her whole life. She is not one to obey orders or keep herself in line. If you think the moroi princess has caused Miss Hathaway to be serious for once in her life you are sadly mistaken!" she informed us. Alberta and I grimaced.

I really shouldn't be trying to defend Rose when I hadn't known her for that long. I didn't know anything about her past or what her feelings were towards her peers and instructors. However, here I was, clearly defending her, but what the headmistress was saying sounded completely out of character with Rose's actions and qualities I have so far witnessed.

Rose's personality so far told me she was rude, obnoxious, cocky, ill-mannered, confident, mischievous and deceiving. So why was I sticking up for someone like that? Was it because I could clearly see she had true potential to become a great guardian, and being bonded with Vasilisa gave her the motivation she needed to succeed? Or was it because the harshness of her crime was being too seriously punished and I felt sympathetic towards her? I didn't know which reason it was but I knew I would try harder with Rose and get her up to the level the other novices were at. That was, if she decided to become serious about her training and her school work.

I didn't know why she had run away in the first place but she would have to have a pretty good reason for taking Vasilisa with her, seeing as she cared for her so much. Also, if Rose wasn't seriously dedicated, then I was wasting my time training with her. If she continued on like this, she would be sent away to live with her mother, or, if she was lucky, she would be sent to another Academy, probably half way across the country, far away from the moroi princess. I promised myself I wouldn't let it come to that.

"I still think she deserves a chance to prove herself, regardless of her previous behaviour in the past." I told her pointedly.

"Previous behavior? _**Previous behavior?**_ Belikov, before she and Vasilisa ran away Rose was like this. She hasn't changed at all in the last two years! She's still the same undisciplined, unskilled, rude bitch as last time! If you think my warnings and set of rules will keep her in line, you are wrong. She has broken plenty of rules before and she will do it again. You want to know why? I'll tell you why... because absolutely _**nothing**_ has changed about her. Rose is Rose and will always be like this, unless someone takes her away from Vasilisa. She won't listen to anyone else and the princess hides behind her! Vasilisa needs to step out on her own, otherwise the other royal Moroi will never take her seriously. Vasilisa needs to be heard! She is a growing force and will rise in power as she gets older. We cannot have her hanging around a bad influence that will only hold her back, can we?" Kirova raised her eyebrows and gave us a questioning look.

"No, we can't" Alberta agreed, shaking her head sadly from side to side. "So how will we take turns spying on Rose?"

"Hmm, well, either Belikov or you will be in every single one of the girl's classes but you will continuously switch. When Belikov is watching Rose you will watch Vasilisa and vice-versa. I don't think either of them will suspect a thing unless she turns around and see's you looking at her. Alberta, you will have to be extra careful following Rose when she leaves training sessions with Belikov. Make sure she goes straight to her dorm and if she breaks protocol, inform me immediately. Understood?"

Alberta and I nodded. The headmistress cleared her throat and opened one of the draws in her desk. Alberta and I sat in silence as the headmistress rummaged through the papers in her draw. Smiling stiffly, she pulled out two pieces of paper with our names on it. She handed them to us.

"This is Rose and Vasilisa's timetable. I printed you each a copy with the lessons you will be on duty. With each lesson the girls have, you will swap places and mix it around a little. Guardian Chase will also take over once in a while to make it less obvious. Mix it around as much as you want so it is never the same; the girls won't suspect a thing then. Both of you will report to me once a week on the girls' progress, or, rather, Rose's failure. Okay?" Kirova spoke firmly.

"Yes," Alberta and I said at the exact same time.

"Good. You are both dismissed." Kirova said with a wave of her hand.

Alberta and I stood up and left just as the bell rang for the end of class. It was the end of the day for the students, and classes had finished. It was also time for my first training session with Rose, something I had looked forward to, but also dreaded for almost the entire day.

I walked briskly towards the gym where Rose would also be headed. Once I got there I quickly set up the gym equipment so we could start training as soon as she got here. It only took me five minutes to set it up, and Rose still hadn't arrived.

I looked at my phone, checking the time. Rose was already ten minutes late. Sighing I pulled out the timetable Kirova had given me. Scanning down the page I looked at Rose's last class. _**Slavic Art**_. That wasn't too far from the gym. She should've been here by now.

I headed over to the room she was supposed to be in. She wasn't there, so I kept on looking. I didn't have to look very far since I could see her in the distance talking to Vasilisa. As I approached none of the girls noticed and kept on talking. I just heard the end of the conversation.

"All right then," Rose said. "We'll see how it goes. If anything happens-anything at all-we leave. No arguments." Vasilisa nodded.

"Rose?" Both of their heads snapped up to look at me. "You're late for practice," I told her evenly. Looking over at Vasilisa I gave a polite nod "Princess." Rose quickly said goodbye and we walked away in silence. Kirova was right, Rose was planning to break protocol, and now I had evidence to prove it. Should I tell the headmistress and get Rose sent away immediately or should I keep it to myself and just keep an eye on Rose? No, I wouldn't tell on her. I would forget it ever happened and just continue on like normal. Sighing I turned to look at Rose who was walking glumly by my side. She looked up all of the sudden startled and froze.

"Rose?" I turned to look back at her. Her lips were parted slightly and she was looking straight ahead. Her shoulders were slumped and her eyes glazed over. She looked like a zombie. What was wrong with her? Shaking her slightly I continuously called her name. "Rose? Rose! What's happening? What's wrong? Tell me!" I ordered.

She didn't respond and my fear for her increased. What was happening to her? Was she having a vision or something? Was this part of the bond? Wait, I thought. That's what it was, the bond. She was seeing what Vasilisa was seeing. That's why her eyes were glazed over and she wasn't moving. She wasn't in _**her**_ body anymore. She was in _**Vasilisa's**_. I waited for a long time, all the while Rose stood there still as a statue not saying anything. All of the sudden she whimpered and I looked up at her. Her eyes were still glazed over, so I presumed she was still in the princess's mind seeing what she saw.

"Christian!" she gasped in horror.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

I watched in horror as Rose silently screamed. I had just about given up trying to shake her out of Vasilisa's mind and back into her own, since she wasn't responding to my frantic calls. It seemed no matter what I did; pinch, shake or call her name, she just wouldn't snap out of it.

I had no idea what Rose was observing right now in Vasilisa's mind but the look on her face made me think the princess was in some sort of trouble. Should I call for help? Or should I wait for Rose to tell me herself if Vasilisa was in danger. Groaning, I reached up to grab fistfuls of my hair in frustration.

I would wait for Rose to tell me herself, I decided. No one would know where the princess was anyway and I wasn't one hundred percent sure there was anything wrong.

"Lissa, No!" Rose gasped, my head snapped over to look at her face. Her eyes were still glazed over and little beads of sweat were forming at her hairline.

I stepped forward and gripped her shoulders, shaking her slightly; I leaned towards her, "Rose? Rose?" Rose's mouth went slack and her eyes slowly became focused. Blinking she focused in on my face.

"Are you alright?" I asked concerned.

"I… yeah. I was… I was with Lissa…" she lifted her hand up, to rest it on her forehead. I dropped my hands from her shoulders and took a step back. "I was in her head" she explained and I looked at her confused.

"Her… head?"

"Yeah. It's part of the bond." She said dismissively with a wave of her hand. I thought back to when Rose was having the vision, remembering the look on her face and what she had said.

_"Lissa, No!" She gasped. _It had sounded like the princess was in danger from the tone Rose had used.

"Is she alright?" I asked.

"Yeah she's…" Rose hesitated, "She's not in danger."

I remembered the first thing Rose had said when entering Vasilisa's mind.

_"Christian!" she gasped in horror._ Sifting through the hundreds of students, I tried to put a face to the name Christian.

My eyes widened slightly as I remembered there was a boy called Christian in Rose's year. Christian Ozera. Tasha Ozera's niece. Poor Christian, poor Tasha, I thought sadly.

When Christian was only a little boy his parents had turned into Strigoi: Evil immortals who stalked the night searching for their pray. This resulted in his aunt Tasha to take responsibility for him and make sure he was well looked after. That wasn't the worst part.

One day when the two of them were watching T.V at home, Christian's parents came back for him, demanding he become "awakened" to be just like them, Strigoi. Tasha refused to let them do it and Christian's parents got angry. Tasha fought against them to keep Christian safe, only to get backhanded by his mother, leaving a permanent scar across one side of her face. Luckily, the guardians arrived just in time to save them both and destroy Christian's parents.

Christian had witnessed the whole thing and was traumatized by witnessing his parent's death. He has never been the same since. Tasha Ozera had told me one afternoon, after I had boldly asked why her face had scars on it. Tasha was a dear friend of mine and I admired her courage and bravery when protecting Christian.

Now Christian wore all black and kept to himself. All of the students avoided him and kept out of his way in fear he would turn Strigoi just like his parents. I very much doubted he would, but all the same, he was dangerous and quite unstable. If he was with the princess, then who knows what might happen.

"Can you keep going?" I asked Rose frantically.

Misunderstanding what I meant- which was to check the princess was not in danger from Christian, Rose said, "Yeah. I'm fine." If Rose wasn't worried about Vasilisa hanging out with Christian Ozera, then I shouldn't be either. Who knows, maybe they were friends.

Rose and I walked back to the gym and she changed into her training uniform. When she came out of the girls change rooms, she suggested I should let her off this time. I laughed at her mockingly. As if I would let her off training because she had sore muscles from her workout in class earlier today.

"Why is that funny?" she asked, stone faced.

"Oh" I said, my smile dropping. "You were serious."

"Of course I was! Look, I've technically been awake for two days. Why do we have to start this training now? Let me go to bed" she whined. "It's just one hour."

Frowning, I crossed my arms and looked down at her. Enough mucking around, I thought. It's time to get serious otherwise she would try and get out of practise every time she felt sore or tired from the days classes.

Other teachers might have said, yeah, sure, straight away but that had been a great mistake. She would try to get around them every time she didn't feel like training, but if I declined, she would know I wouldn't give in to her that easily.

"How do you feel right now? After you've done training so far?" I asked her, arms still crossed.

"I hurt like hell!" she groaned.

"You'll feel worse tomorrow." I told her.

"So?" she said.

"So, better jump in now while you still feel… not as bad." I explained.

"What kind of logic is that?" she retorted, screwing up her face.

I didn't answer and she decided not to argue further. I led her into the weight room and showed her the weights and reps I wanted her to do for today's session. Then I sprawled myself in the corner with a battered old western novel. Once she'd finished I showed her a set of cool down stretches.

"How'd you end up as Lissa's guardian?" she asked. "You weren't here a few years ago. Were you even trained at this school?"

My body immediately stiffened and I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. I didn't answer her straight away, I was mainly trying to stay calm and in control, desperate not to lose it.

"No. I attended the one in Siberia." I answered shortly.

"Whoa, that's got to be the only place worse than Montana." she said. My eyes lit up in amusement, and I almost smiled. Siberia was a dangerous place to be educated. Strigoi roamed the place, attacking young novices for fun. I continued without acknowledging her joke.

"After I graduated, I was a Guardian for a Zeklos lord. He was killed recently." My lips turned down into a frown and my face grew dark. "They sent me here because they needed extras on campus. When the princess turned up, they assigned me to her, since I'd already be around. Not that it matters until she leaves campus." I explained. Rose pushed further.

"Did this lord die on your watch?" she asked.

"No. He was with his other guardian. I was away." I fell silent, remembering when I got a call one night back in my hometown, at my family's residence in Russia. A guardian I'd never met told me a Strigoi hunting party had descended at dusk, killing the guardian on duty as well as my dear friend Zeklos.

Rose piped up. Seeing my expression she said, "Hey, did you help come up with the plan to get us back? Because it was pretty good. Brute force and all that." I arched an eyebrow curiously.

"You're complimenting me on that?"

"Well, it was a hell of a lot better than the last one they tried."

"Last one?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah. In Chicago. With the pack of psi-hounds."

"This was the first time we found you. In Portland." I said. She sat up from her stretches and crossed her legs.

"Um, I don't think I imagined psi-hounds. Who else could have sent them? They only answer to Moroi. Maybe no one told you about it?"

"Maybe." I said dismissively. I didn't really think they wouldn't tell me about something as serious as sending psi-hounds. They were only used for hunting. The Academy wouldn't send them on a rescue mission; you would send them to _**kill**_ the runaways.

I told Rose she could leave and she did. On my way out, I saw Alberta trail after Rose. As she reached me, I gave her a small nod of acknowledgement and in return, she gave me a small smile. I went straight to my room after that and collapsed on the bed, completely exhausted from the day's events. I fell asleep in minutes.

The next morning, I woke up bright and early and decided to go for a quick jog around campus just to clear my head. I thought about a lot of things, whilst jogging, at a steady pace.

Rose, for one, was seeming to understand that it's game on from this point. She has a lot of work to do, a lot of bodybuilding and also a lot more technique was needed in her fighting. If she was going to be ready for her trials in the spring, she would have to step up to the plate and give it everything she's got while keeping a level head. There would be no bitching, groaning, or complaints while she was aiming to achieve her goal to become Vasilisa's guardian.

I also thought about Kirova, and how spying on a student should be considered an invasion of privacy. Rose seemed to be coming along well in her training, so far, and it looked like she could prove her past and her future were two very different things. I believed her attitude, manners and respect would improve with every day that passes.

I also thought about my former charge Zeklos, which was distressing as I still hadn't gotten over his death. It was something I thought about every day that passed. For each day, the guilt got more and more unbearable; it kept on eating away at me until eventually I knew I wouldn't be able to bear it any longer and let it take over. Ever since the incident, I had distanced myself from others in fear that they too would leave me someday, without warning.

Friends come and go, some staying longer than others. Not many survived. Dhampir friends especially; they died trying to protect their Moroi quite often. If I kept to myself, rather than trying to connect with people, I would save myself a lot of grieving and sadness.

With three laps around campus, I headed to the gym a couple minutes early. I set up the gym equipment as a special treat to Rose. No doubt her body would be aching all over after yesterday's efforts.

Once I had just finished setting up the equipment, I sensed her coming. I couldn't explain in words what Rose's presence did to me but I got a weird sensation all over when she was near. It was strange. I had never been able to "sense" when someone I knew was coming, especially a _**girl**_. It scared me a little. Rose was hard to ignore, and I couldn't take my mind off her no matter how hard I tried. Right on cue, Rose entered the gym with a sour expression on her face. She was already dressed in her uniform ready to go.

She came straight over to me. "Hey, Comrade. You were right about feeling worse tomorrow. My back is killing me! And everywhere I touch is really tender." She whined. A small smile spread across my face.

"Stop complaining and start training." I ordered, and she grinned.

I don't know what it was about Rose but she had this kind of energy that made her hard to ignore. She was a person who you either loved or hated. She could be your best friend or your worst enemy. Rose had a lot of friends, sure, among the dhampirs, but among the Moroi, she was considered a threat to most girls. Her wit, charm, and body intrigued the Moroi males and her running commentary proved a great novelty factor. Most girls were either just attractive or just amusing; rarely would you find a girl with both qualities. Rose however, was a special case, something everyone wanted to lay their hands on and claim as theirs.

I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she gradually made her way through the weights and reps I told her to practise. She was struggling quite a bit, since she was only beginning to start her regular routine training. It had been nearly two years since Rose worked out last and I was surprised she even showed up for practise this morning. Her body would be giving her hell right now. But she finished her training, not giving up or complaining that much. There were a few grunts when she was using the weights, but she proved to be strong and carried on through them none the less. I let her go two minutes early since she'd done so well. She smiled before quickly running out the door.

~ ~ ~

Lunchtime came by a breeze, and I found myself, for the first time ever, wanting to go to the school cafeteria. I was sick of hiding away in my room like a coward. This morning's session with Rose had put me in a good mood and made me gain slightly more confidence in myself.

As I entered the cafeteria my eyes immediately searched for Rose. I found her sitting at a table in the far left hand side corner with Vasilisa and a bunch of Moroi, one whom I recognized as Prince Victor's daughter Natalie.

Grabbing a salad role from the canteen, I plonked myself down at an empty table on the opposite side of the room from Rose. That way, Rose wouldn't be able to spot me among the crowd of students. If she saw me, I knew she would come over and insist on sitting next to me so I wouldn't be alone. That was the kind of person she was. However, I didn't need to worry because Rose had grabbed Vasilisa's arm and pulled her away from the table to talk to her privately.

They stood near the door to the feeders, whispering in frantic voices it seemed. Rose looked at Vasilisa disapprovingly and Vasilisa looked back at her shocked at something she'd said. Maybe Rose was telling her about her experience in Vasilisa's thoughts, aka mind.

Their expressions matched the obvious reactions to that kind of news, especially if Rose was saying something about Christian Ozera. They stood there talking for the rest of lunch and continued talking as they made their way to their next class together. I knew they were in the same class since I had both of their timetables stuffed in my pocket.

Because they were in the same class neither Alberta nor I could guard the class, so Guardian Chase was taking over for us. Instead, Alberta and I were guarding a senior novice gym training session. Relaxing a little, Alberta and I spoke casually about spying on Rose and Vasilisa.

"It's just not _**right!**_" she complained. "Rose shouldn't need to be followed. She's not a little kid." She complained.

"I know. But there's no changing the headmistress's mind. She's dead set on watching Rose's every move." I agreed.

"I just feel sorry for her; all she's got is punishment and criticism since she's returned. I can see she's changed and will try harder. The _**old**_ Rose would have broken a rule or two by now. I'm amazed we haven't caught her going off to secretly hang out with any _**boys**_." She giggled. My eyes narrowed at the last part and I sighed.

Rose's fascination with boys was none of my business nor was what she got up to with them. I wasn't her father I couldn't tell her what to do, in that sense. All I could do was send disapproving messages with my facial expressions. Would Rose listen to them though? That was the real question.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys,**

**This next chapter took me awhile to get up, sorry about that. I've been busy with school and stuff, but I'm sure the wait has been worth it ;)**

**Enjoy... And don't forget to REVIEW :)**

* * *

Chapter Six

Early Sunday morning I got up for church. Now, I didn't consider myself a "believer" in god but I went to grieve for my former charge Zeklos. I felt guiltier with each passing day. I always questioned myself on would the circumstances have changed if I had been the one guarding him when the strigoi attacked? Since Zeklos and the guardian were severely outnumbered by the Strigoi I highly doubted my presence could have helped except kill one or two more strigoi present. However that still didn't change the fact that Zeklos was dead and I wasn't taken down with him, the way it should've been. My rightful place was by his side fighting off strigoi, trying to protect his life and my own, and even though we would be outnumbered when he and I would be pinned against the floor by strigoi- I would take one last look at Zeklos and smile…because we had been taken down together; I wouldn't have it any other way.

Sitting in the back pew, I listened intently to what the priest was saying. I was ignoring the whispered conversations around the room. My face was lined with shadows, my expression thoughtful as I remembered my former charge before the attack. Zeklos was a good man; he and I were a great team. He was so focused and admirable and he was always full of charm. Zeklos respected others but most of all guardians. He knew the importance we withheld and the sacrifices we made to protect his kind; moroi. Many fell in the process.

He always used to tell me "Dimitri, don't ever let another moroi treat you like an accessory. They'll abuse you and treat you like shit if you let them. Stick up for yourself and the ones you love because you never know how much one person means to you, until they're gone for good."

I repeated those words to myself nearly every day, they were absolutely correct. I missed my dear friend Zeklos more than words could describe. No one would understand my pain… _no one_. He was like my brother, my best mate, my partner in crime. I didn't have to change for him, I could be myself and he wouldn't treat me any differently. He acted like a dhampir and criticized his own kind for their disrespectful behaviour towards dhampir's. I would never be able to forgive myself for his death.

I blinked, focusing back on the priest who had apparently concluded today's session. A lot of the pews were already empty and there was a long line of people walking out the door. A couple of people surrounded the priest waiting eagerly for their turn to talk to him. That's when I realised Rose was among the people standing next to the priest waiting for her turn to speak. Why was Rose at church? I wondered. She wasn't a believer, well; she didn't seem like one that is.

She stood there, next to the priest speaking to him with curiousness written all over her face. What was she up to now? I worried. Certainly she wasn't going to question his faith in god or something disrespectful like that. I watched them both warily. The priest handed Rose a book and said a few words before turning away from her and smiling warmly at two young novices. Rose scowled as she walked away from the priest, holding the book in her hand. She didn't seem to notice me staring at her- thankfully. She stopped at the chapel's entryway to join in on Vasilisa and Aaron's conversation.

They spoke animatedly and Rose's eyes flickered back and forth between Vasilisa and Aaron. A couple of minutes later Rose and Vasilisa left Aaron and walked outside. I heard screams as a big pile of snow fell from the roof and landed on Rose and Vasilisa. Shocked, I started making my way over to them, to offer them my coat, but a curly blonde haired moroi blocked my path. I heard laughter from outside and a boy spoke.

"Wish you hadn't been wearing a coat Rose. That shirt would have looked good wet." He said cockily.

"That shirts so ugly, it should be burned. Did you get that from a homeless person?" The curly blonde haired moroi chastised, looping her arm around Aaron's.

"I suppose you want to offer to burn it, huh? Rose asked. "Oh, wait-fire isn't your element, is it? You work with water. What a coincidence a bunch just fell on us."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The curly blonde haired girl asked innocently.

"Nothing to me, but will probably have something to say when she finds out you used magic against another student."

"That wasn't an attack." The girl scoffed, "and it wasn't me. It was an act of god." A few people laughed, and I waited nervously for Rose's response, expecting her to lash out at the rude girl. Instead Vasilisa nudged Rose and said "Let's go." They then walked off, leaving behind a trail of laughter and jokes about the girl's wet states. "Good one Mia" one girl said, giggling. "Please," Mia replied, putting a hand on her hip. "That was nothing." She laughed.

I knew well aware about Mia Rinaldi and the way she treated dhampir's-like filth. She wasn't a royal moroi- in fact- her parents worked for a Drozdov lord. Her mother was a maid and her father cuts grass. She desperately wanted to be with the "in" crowd, so she often showcased herself to the other royal moroi, like she was all mighty, when really; she had to hide her family's shame. I knew Mia had- in fact -used magic against Rose and Vasilisa just to gain attention from her friends and make Rose look bad. Mia wanted a reaction from Rose and she almost got one- a bad one. Rose had done so well this last week and I couldn't let Mia ruin all she had achieved; I wouldn't let her. I was thankful Rose didn't attack Mia because now I could eliminate the threat. Walking briskly out of the church and up to Mia's group, I tapped her lightly on the shoulder. She turned around and looked surprised to see me standing before her.

"Miss Rinaldi. Would you mind coming with me for a short moment?" Her smile dropped and the group fell silent. All eyes stared at Mia, waiting eagerly for her response.

"Sure." She said uncertainly. "I'll catch you guys up." She beckoned for them to leave and then turned to look back at me.

"This way" I said, motioning with my hand for her to walk ahead.

"What happened with Rose wasn't my fault-I swear." She gushed, looking up at me innocently. I gave her a warning look as we walked around the side of the church; where no one could see us.

"Don't lie to me. Do you understand?" she opened her mouth to protest but I continued. "I _saw_ you. Your hand moved in synchronisation with the water sliding off the roof and onto Rose and the Vasilisa!" I almost yelled. I hadn't realised in my angst I'd unconsciously leaned forward, so now I was inch's from her face. Mia's innocent expression turned to one of fear.

"Please, I was only-"

"-Only trying to impress your friends" I finished for her. Sarcasm dripped off the word friends. I leaned even closer to her, so our eyes were level, purely to intimidate her, nothing more.

"I want you to stay away from Rose." I looked directly into her eyes and spoke every word slowly, to make sure she was paying attention.

"And if you don't… I will be the first one to find you, so you are dealt with correctly." I told her. "Are we clear?" I raised one eyebrow questioningly.

"Yes Guardian Belikov." She whimpered. I gave her a lingering look.

"Then _leave_."

She scattered off around the corner and I stood up straight. That was her dealt with. Wait- what had I done… I cannot believe I just threatened a student! What was wrong with me? I should't have done that. The anger that had built up inside me from what Mia had done- slowly lessened, and I could breathe normally again. Did I just defend Rose? Why had I done that? It shouldn't have bothered me this much. It was just what happened at schools, girls got in fights all the time why should I intervene this time? _Because it was Rose_. The feelings for Rose were making me act this way, and I couldn't control them. Rose was doing so well obeying protocol and then Mia had to go try and ruin all she had worked for so far. I wasn't going to stand for that.

If Mia messed with Rose then she was also messing with _me_. I just couldn't stand by and let that happen, but I shouldn't have handled it like that. I groaned. I was going crazy, this had to stop. Whatever was making me feel defensive about Rose had to be eliminated. For good. I wouldn't allow myself to act that way ever again. Not for Rose. That was wrong, very wrong.

As I had said early, moroi girls saw Rose as a threat. They looked at Vasilisa with envy and longing. So with the small power Mia withheld she was trying to bring them both down to make herself look good. I had gone to the source and disabled the threat before things got too serious. Hopefully there would be no more fighting, hopefully. My phone chimed from my pocket and I got it out. The screen showed I had a new message from Alberta. I opened it and quickly read the message.

_Belikov, come quick! Rose is breaking protocol. She's in the library with Mason. Mason Ashford. I'll let you handle it. Remember you owe me. -Alberta_

I sighed and started jogging over to the library. Why now Rose? _Why now_. You were doing so well. She had thrown all my effort to waste. As soon as I entered the hall I saw Alberta standing at the library's entrance. I nodded to her.

"Belikov she's sitting at a table with Mason, in the far corner." I grunted in response and opened the library door just enough to poke my head in. Sure enough Rose was indeed sitting with Mason in the far left hand corner of the room. They were chatting whilst Rose stared intensely at a book she had opened. The book the priest had given her, I realised. Well if Rose was reading something the priest had given her, there was no harm in that. Unless she was just pretending to so she could talk with Mason. Closing the door, I turned around to face Alberta who was frowning.

"It's okay. She's just reading a book the priest gave her this morning. She won't do any harm reading." I explained.

"Yes but she's with the boy, Mason." Alberta protested.

"Yes, well, their only talking it doesn't really matter all that much."

"Well the boy has a crush on Miss Hathaway, everyone knows about it. Students gossip Belikov. I've heard stories. When no one is looking at them they'll probably kiss." She huffed. My eyes narrowed to slits and my blood began to boil. Without another word I marched up to the hall matron. She looked up from her paperwork and smiled.

"What can I do for you Guardian Belikov?" she asked politely.

"It's Rose Hathaway. She's in the library with Mason Ashford." I said icily.

"Oh, I see. I knew it was only a matter of time before Miss Hathaway broke protocol." I nodded stiffly and she stood up from her chair. Did anyone actually have faith in Rose? Obviously not, I seethed.

"Well, I better go separate them." She said- then walked off. I walked back over to Alberta.

"Thanks." I said before sulking back to my room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys,**

**Here's the next chapter in Dimitri's DPOV, I've really enjoyed reading all your wonderful Reviews from the last chapter, Thanks so much... :)**

**Don't forget to Review this chapter! :D**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Seven**

Over the past three weeks Rose and I had developed a routine. Early in the morning before her usual school time practices we'd have workout sessions for about an hour. I started with the basics: running, running and more running. During my time as a student, my instructor and mentor Galina had instilled in me the importance of stamina. At the time, I felt much the same as I'm sure Rose did, that I'd needed to learn to throw kicks and punches in order to survive. Although technique was important too, Galina had taught me it was stamina that gave you the strength to use those techniques for an extended amount of time. Many underestimated the strength of Strigoi, and I wanted to make sure Rose wasn't one of them.

Early one morning, I was in the small gym where Rose and I had been meeting for our daily practice sessions. I usually always arrived early to set up whatever materials we used that day, but finally catching on to Rose's schedule, I had been smart enough to bring a book while I waited for her to roll out of bed and run over in order not to be late. After our session the night before, I had noticed someone had brought in a CD player, so this morning I took full advantage of that. When Rose walked in I was rereading one of my favorite western novels and listening to a favorite 80's mix of mine.

I knew exactly when she walked into the room, a fact that surprised me and bothered me for some reason. Instead of acknowledging her I continued reading as she walked up to me and slung her bag on the ground. From my peripheral vision, I saw her crinkle her nose as she said, "Whoa, Dimitri. I realize this is actually a current hit in Eastern Europe right now, but do you think we could maybe listen to something that wasn't recorded before I was born?"

Without moving my head up I flicked my eyes toward her and said, "What does it matter to you? I'm the one who's going to be listening to it. You'll be outside running."

She made a face at me and began stretching her hamstring, placing her foot on the bar that ran around one of the walls. "Hey," she asked, moving on to the next leg, "what's with all the running, anyway? I mean, I realize the importance of stamina and all that, but shouldn't I be moving on to something with a little hitting? They're still killing me in group practice."

"Maybe you should hit harder," I replied drily, still looking down at my book.

"I'm serious."

"Hard to tell the difference." I finally gave up on my book and set it down, still sprawled in my chair. "My job is to get you ready to defend the princess and defeat dark creatures, right?"

"Yup."

I decided to throw a curveball at her. "So tell me this: suppose you manage to kidnap her again and take her off to the mall. While you're there, a Strigoi comes at you. What will you do?"

"Depends on what store we're in." I just looked at her. I was attempting to teach her something, but of course she just had to be a smartass. I wondered if this was how Galina felt in the beginning with me.

"Fine. I'll stab him with a silver stake." Expecting an answer along those lines, I sat up and crossed my legs. "Oh?" I said, raising my eyebrows. "Do you have a silver stake? Do you even know how to use one?"

She looked away from me and scowled at the wall, annoyed I had stumped her. I barely managed to hold back a smile.

After a minute she said, "Okay. I'll cut his head off."

"Ignoring the fact that you don't have a weapon to do that, how will you compensate for the fact that he may be a foot taller than you?"

She straightened up from her stretch, and I could tell by the look on her face that she was annoyed. "Fine, then I'll set him on fire."

"Again, with what?"

"All right, I give up. You've already got the answer. You're just messing with me. I'm at the mall and I see a Strigoi. What do I do?"

I looked at her seriously, not blinking then said, "You run."

Her face twisted in frustration and she took a deep breath as if to control herself from throwing something at me. It was harder to repress the grin this time but luckily she turned away to finish stretching so she didn't see it finally stretch across my face. To make her feel better and hopefully encourage her to keep working harder, I offered to run with her once she was done stretching. She looked surprised at my offer but didn't say anything as we set out into the chilly October evening. It only got colder as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky, and I was thankful for the warm sweatshirt I had on. Noticing her heavy breathing, I slowed my pace a bit to match hers so we could stay together.

Once I slowed down a bit for her though, it seemed she had a new burst of energy all of a sudden because she began running faster. It was almost as if she didn't like the fact that I'd had to slow down to match her pace. Whatever the reason, she kept at her faster pace for the next couple of laps.

When we reached the third-to-last loop, a couple of novices passed by, preparing to go to the same group practice Rose would soon be at. I could see them all admiring her as we ran and for some reason it really annoyed me. "Good form, Rose!" one of the guys shouted. She grinned and waved to him, which only annoyed me further.

"You're slowing down," I snapped, causing her to jerk her gaze from the guys. The harshness in my voice startled her as well as me. "Is this why your times aren't getting any faster? You're easily distracted?"

Seemingly embarrassed, she increased her speed once more and concentrated on running. I couldn't say the same for myself though. For the rest of our run, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about my reaction and why I'd even had that sort of reaction...

We finally finished our twelfth and final lap, and when I checked, I found we'd shaved two minutes off her best time. "Not bad, huh?" She crowed when we headed back inside for cool-down stretches. "Looks like I could get as far as the Limited before the Strigoi got me at the mall. Not sure how Lissa would do."

"If she was with you, she'd be okay." She looked up in surprise at my comment, which made me smile and I realized it was the first real complement I'd given her since we began our training sessions.

All of a sudden her expression contorted into one filled with excruciating pain and her eyes went blank.

"Rose? Rose, what's wrong? " I kept calling her name to no avail, then all of a sudden awareness shot back into her eyes. Without any kind of word or explanation to me she took off out of the gym like a shot. If I hadn't just gotten done working out with her, I would have thought she hadn't run at all with how fast and how hard she was running. I finally caught up and ran alongside her, asking her what was wrong and trying to figure out what was going on. It was like she didn't hear me. She just continued running towards the middle of campus and when we veered towards the dorms I suddenly knew. Something must have happened to Lissa, which would explain how she'd acted earlier. A second later I knew I was right when I saw Lissa running towards us, her face streaked with tears.

We both jerked to a stop and Rose immediately began questioning her. "What's wrong? What happened?" she demanded, clutching Lissa's arms. She couldn't answer, instead just flung her arms around Rose and sobbed into her chest. Rose began stroking her hair, trying to comfort and calm at the same time. Not knowing what was wrong, I went into Guardian mode and continuously scanned the area for any possible threat, while also watching the girls and waiting for Lissa's explanation.

It wasn't until half an hour later, crammed in Lissa's dorm room that I got my answer. We had been joined by Headmistress Kirova and the dorm hall monitor, not to mention the many girls that had accumulated in the hall, wondering what all of the commotion was about. Natalie, Lissa's roommate pushed her way through to where we were standing and gasped in horror at the sight before us.

Shock and disgust showed on almost everyone's faces as we stared at Lissa's bed. There was a fox on the pillow. Its coat was reddish-orange, tinged in white. It looked so soft and cuddly that it could have been a pet, perhaps a cat, something you'd hold in your arms and snuggle with.

Aside from the fact that its throat had been slit. The inside of the throat looked pink and jellylike. Blood stained that soft coat and had run down onto the yellow bedspread, forming a dark pool that spread across the fabric. The fox's eyes stared upward, glazed, over with a sort of shocked look about them. Lissa stared at it, her face deathly pale, and took a few steps toward it; her hand involuntarily reached out and I saw in her expression she wanted to help it. There was no helping this fox though. My face hardened, and I could feel the anger running through me. I couldn't fathom who would ever do something like this to Lissa as a prank.

Off to the side, Rose gently took Lissa's hand and steered her away from the gruesome scene. I took a closer look at Rose, and she seemed to be deep in thought. All of a sudden I remembered back to when we had first delivered Rose and Lissa back to the Academy, how Rose continually insisted that they hadn't just left on a whim, that Lissa was actually in danger. I had been skeptical at first but the dead fox on the bed in front of me was factual proof that something was very wrong. I couldn't catch their whispered conversation, only the tone of voice but I still continued to watch them. At one point I heard Rose's voice turn sharp as she said something to a tearful Lissa. She tightened her grip on Lissa's arm making her flinch, and continued speaking to her in a low but firm tone. Finally Lissa nodded, and my attention was pulled back to the bed by Kirova.

"Get this cleaned up," she snapped to the matron. "And find out if anyone saw anything."

Knowing Lissa needed Rose for support, I hadn't said anything to Rose about her not technically being allowed to be here because of her suspension, nor did I say anything about it to anyone else. Someone finally noticed though, and I was ordered to take Rose away, no matter how much she begged and pleaded with them to stay with Lissa.

I walked her back to the novice's dorm in silence, not speaking until we were almost there.

"You know something. Something about what happened. Is this what you meant when you told Headmistress Kirova that Lissa was in danger?"

"I don't know anything. It's just some sick joke." Remembering back to her whispered conversation in Lissa's dorm, I knew she had to be hiding something.

"Do you have any idea who'd do it? Or why?"

She seemed to consider this, but eventually replied, "No, no clue."

Feeling a bit frustrated I said, "Rose, if you know something, tell me. We're on the same side. We both want to protect her. This is serious."

She spun around then, taking her anger over the fox out on me. "Yeah, it is serious. It's all serious. And you have me doing laps every day when I should be learning to fight and defend her! If you want to help her, then teach me something! Teach me how to fight. I already know how to run away."

I regarded her calmly during her outburst, not letting her see what I was thinking. It was easy to see how much this had affected her, and the helplessness she felt at not being able to do anything for her friend was written all over her face.

When she finished though, I simply beckoned her forward like she hadn't said anything. "Come on. You're late for practice."

She left for practice and I headed back to my room, deep in thought. The resolve she felt showed through clearly in her outburst. Recalling her passion and determination, I finally decided she had earned an early reprieve. We would start the real physical training tomorrow. Now was a good time to begin planning what exactly we'd be doing since I had some free time.

At this point, I had just made it to the entrance of the staff wing of the dorms when someone called out to me. I turned around to find another guardian I only knew by sight approaching me.

"Guardian Belikov, Headmistress Kirova wants to see you right away. She said it's urgent."

I thanked him and with a swift nod in my direction, he jogged off. With a sigh, I headed off to talk to the headmistress, most likely about the grisly discovery we had just made in Lissa's room. I'd have to plan Rose's new torturous curriculum later.


	8. Chapter 8

_**The wait for this chapter has been a long one, and your patience will be rewarded. I was locked out of my account for a year and a half because my email got shut down. I was finally able to access my account by fluke of remembering the correct password and email. I'm in year 12 so school consumes most of my life right now. I hope the wait has been worth it. Enjoy readers...**_

* * *

_**Chapter Eight**_

I knocked on the door hesitantly, sparing a few moments to settle my thoughts. Something serious was going on at the Academy and someone dangerous was behind it. I intended to find out who it was and what they wanted. The only problem was I had no clue where to start.

The door to Kirova's office opened and I nodded to her in greeting before stepping in and walking over to stand in front of her desk. Kirova was a smart woman and I knew she'd take control of the situation before it got to out of control. This new act of distaste was directed at Vasilisa Dragomir and she was a moroi of high importance, no one was above her on the strigoi's most wanted list. But somehow I doubted this was a strigoi threat, no this was more _personal_. You didn't kill an innocent animal and lay it on some girl's bed as a silly prank. It didn't seem threatening, however; it was more like a test of some sort. But what the test was for was beyond anyone's guess. I had a feeling Lissa's element had something to do with it, although her power was unclear to us. She was different from the other moroi; I could see it in the way she acted. Even this young she appeared to be destined for greatness. Others were drawn to her in a way that seemed unnatural. She could walk up to anybody and immediately grab their full attention. A skill not just anyone could acquire.

Kirova cleared her throat as she sat down in her chair. Guardians never sat down in a chair, even when it seemed unnecessary to stand.

"You may sit Belikov; you can let your guard down in here." I gave her a reluctant look but regarded her casually.

"I'd prefer not if you wouldn't mind."

"Very well," she nodded. "I suppose you know why you're here Belikov. See, Vasilisa is a high profile moroi, when this gets out there will be a lot of acquisitions made by her peers." She paused to make sure I understood, I gestured for her to go on. "I need you to keep an eye out for anyone acting suspicious around her. Forget Ms Hathaway for the moment, Alberta will watch over her. I want a report of who Vasilisa interacts with and where she is every minute of every day. If this gets worse we'll have to start interviewing students. She'll be on 24 hour surveillance. If anyone or anything seems suspicious, report back to me at once." Her face was condemned but I could see the uncertainty in her eyes. She didn't know what to do in a situation like this, acting to extreme measures was her natural reaction.

"If that is what you think is best for Vasilisa, I shall see to it that it's done." I bowed, clearly this meeting was over. As soon as I left I thought of any possible students who'd have a grudge towards her. But when you were liked by everyone was it possible to have enemies? Would it be an act of scorn or an act of jealousy? Only time would tell.

**~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

I woke up from my nap at about 11pm. Seeing as the next class didn't start for another 20 minutes I decided to take my time walking there. On the way I ran in to Alberta who had a huge grin on her face.

"She's improving. Congratulations." She said, as I regarded her with a confused stare. "Rose won her first fight in gym class against Shane Reyes." A small smile crept onto my face. Shane was a tough component. Rose had done well to defeat him. Looks like our lessons were helping her improve her skills after all.

"I'm sure we'll see more of that in the next couple of weeks," I said confidently.

"I don't doubt that, you've proven yourself to be a great mentor for Rose. Hopefully her attitude around others won't let you down, you know what she's like." I nodded. Yes I did know what she was like. Rose had a very short fuse and although she'd been on good behaviour so far, I had a feeling her anxiety and anger were building up. The stress from Vasilisa over the recent events would take its toll on Rose through the bond. I was sure of it. Being linked to one's mind would no doubt have its disadvantages.

I said goodbye to Alberta who told me she was on her way to guard the first year's gym class. The little ones were always amusing to watch when they were fighting. I was going in the other direction towards the opposite side of campus. I had the pleasure of guarding one of Stan Alto's classes, they too were of great amusement. I walked into his classroom knowing the next 70 minutes would be worthwhile.

**~.~.~..~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~**

Near the end of the lesson I got a text from Alberta concerning Rose and Vasilisa.

_Things aren't looking good, people know about the incident and are giving Vasilisa a hard time. I'm writing down a list of possible suspects." _I sighed in dismay. Rose's temper was sure to be rising with the antagonism towards Vasilisa. I had a feeling her good behaviour was about to be broken.

Five minutes later my thoughts were confirmed. Another text from Alberta informed me that Christian Ozera had set one of the students on fire for tormenting Vasilisa. Rose thankfully had acted only in a way of shielding Vasilisa from the flames. One again showing her seriousness when protecting the princess. An act that was sure to get her bonus points in Kirova's good books. However this meant we had a new list of suspects for people suspected to be a threat towards Vasilisa. That narrowed it down a lot and would make finding the offender a lot easier for the rest of us. I only hoped they wouldn't commit their next offence while nobody else was around.

* * *

**So there it is, what do you think? Please comment and tell me what you think :)**


End file.
